Gas permeation of fullerene-dispersed poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) membranes

• Published in: Journal of polymer science. Part B, Polymer physics Vol. 38; no. 13; pp. 1749 - 1755
• Main Authors: Higuchi, Akon, Yoshida, Tomoya, Imizu, Takeshi, Mizoguchi, Keishin, He, Zhenjie, Pinnau, Ingo, Nagai, Kazukiyo, Freeman, Benny D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2000
• Subjects: fullerene; gas permeation; membrane; separation
• ISSN: 0887-6266; 1099-0488
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-0488(20000701)38:13<1749::AID-POLB80>3.0.CO;2-I

Homogeneously fullerene‐dispersed membranes were prepared under the conditions in which a 10 wt % poly(1‐trimethylsilyl‐1‐propyne) solution containing 0.5 wt % fullerene was dried under a reduced pressure of 50 cmHg at 100 °C. UV‐vis spectra and microscopic observations of the fullerene membranes indicated that the fullerene was homogeneously dispersed in the membranes. The permeability coefficients of 1‐butene were found to be higher than those of n‐butane in the fullerene membranes, although the permeability coefficients of olefin gases were nearly equal to those of paraffin gases having the same number of carbon in poly(1‐trimethylsilyl‐1‐propyne) membranes containing no fullerene. Pressure dependence of permeability coefficients was clearly observed for the permeation of carbon dioxide, ethylene, ethane, 1‐butene, and n‐butane through the fullerene membranes, while no significant dependence was found for poly(1‐trimethylsilyl‐1‐propyne) membranes except for the permeation of 1‐butene and n‐butane. The pressure dependence of the permeability was explained by the dual‐mode sorption model. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 1749–1755, 2000